Parents of nine children kept them in dog cages and tortured them

In the US state of Ohio, nine children aged from one to 13 years were taken from a house with unsanitary conditions. According to investigators, their parents locked them in dog cages and subjected them to cruel punishments. The New York Post reports.

According to investigators, the children lived among insects for years and were bullied. They were forced to stand for hours in uncomfortable positions, squat against a wall, and sometimes locked in cages or behind fences.

Jonathan Parr, 37, is accused of child abuse. He is the biological father of seven of his nine children. At the court hearing, the man pleaded not guilty.

His partner, 32-year-old Jacqueline Coleman, who is a mother of six children, was also detained. The investigation believes that the woman knew about the abuse, but did not try to stop them.

The court appointed each of the accused bail in the amount of 150 thousand dollars, according to the local portal Columbus Dispatch.